Resigning MP ‘wanted Attorney General’s job’
THE barrister MP who quit over Brexit mocked the Attorney General blamed for the Government’s High Court defeat as a ‘third-rate provincial conveyancer’, it was claimed last night.
Stephen Phillips, Tory MP for Sleaford in Lincolnshire, complained at not being given a top job by Theresa May and was scathing in private about Jeremy Wright, according to Conservative sources.
Phillips last night denied making the remarks about the Attorney General, saying: ‘I have never used those words about anyone.’
But separately, Christine Talbot, a respected member of the Sleaford Tory Association executive, yesterday revealed Phillips complained about being passed over by Mrs May – even though he was offered a job as parliamentary aide (PPS) to Brexit Secretary David Davis. She said: ‘He came to a party in the summer and when I asked him why he looked miserable, he said, “Because I haven’t been given a job again.” When I said he had been offered a post as PPS he said, “That is a bag-carrier’s job, I wanted a proper Minister’s job.” ‘I told him PPS was a good opportunity and he still had his constituents to look after. He has betrayed his electorate.’ Phillips last night insisted he had taken up the PPS role but ‘resigned quietly’ when it became clear the Government would trigger the process of leaving the EU without parliamentary approval. Pro-Brexit Phillips, who has earned up to £750,000 a year as a top barrister, claimed Mrs May’s refusal to give MPs a vote was fundamentally undemocratic’.